The present invention relates to a stick for a percussion instrument. More particularly, the present invention relates to a stick for a percussion instrument, which stick includes an elastic body.
Known sticks used to beat a percussion instrument, such as a drum, are normally made of hard wood, such as oak or hickory, or made of fiber reinforcement resin. A typical stick has a grip, which is defined on one end of the stick. A drummer holds the grip between the thumb and index finger. The remaining three fingers are gently wrapped around the stick to support the stick. The basal end of the stick (grip end) is supported in the palm, near the drummer""s wrist. The drummer beats the percussion instrument by swinging the stick up and down.
When the drummer beats the drum, the impact, between the stick and beating surface of the drum, produces a force, which is received by the drummer through the stick. The impact may hurt the drummer""s wrist. More specifically, the grip end, which is made of hard wood, hits the palm near the wrist when the drummer beats the drum with the stick. This may cause fatigue or pain. Professional drummers, who practice every day for long hours, may experience physical problems, such as tenosynovitis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,056 describes a stick having a structure, in which a coil spring is disposed between a grip (handle) and a tapping portion (tip), which is defined at a distal end of the stick. The tapping portion moves elastically relative to the grip. The stick enables an elastic beating of a drum.
However, in the above stick, the spring is located closer to the tapping portion on the tip of the stick, than to the position where the drummer""s thumb and index finger hold the stick. Thus, it is difficult to finely control the beating of the drum when using this stick. Accordingly, an elastic body of the stick is normally locked when beating a drum. That is, the above stick does not have a structure that absorbs impacts applied at the tip of the stick while finely controlling the beating of the drum.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a percussion instrument stick that absorbs impacts applied to a drummer""s wrist.
In order to achieve above objects, the present invention provides a stick for beating a percussion instrument having an elastic component, wherein a part of the stick forms a handle used for holding the stick, and wherein said elastic component is a part of said handle.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.